1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns reducing the emissions produced on burning fuel oils, gasolines or diesel fuels in automobile engines. More particularly, the present invention concerns reducing these emissions by pretreating the fuel prior to burning by removing sulfur therefrom as well as residual moisture and other residual reducing agents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Presently, many of the efforts to reduce the air pollution produced by the automobile engine have centered around treating the exhaust rather than pretreating the fuel to reduce the toxic emissions. The catalytic converter, for example, treats the engine exhausts immediately before releasing them to the atmosphere. Many pollution control systems also rely upon recirculating the engine exhaust back to the engine for a "second burn"before releasing them to the atmosphere to reduce pollutants. Until the inventor's U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,639 the prior art did not provide a suitable treatment for the fuel itself, prior to burning, whereby the toxic emissions could be held to a minimum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,639 provided a treatment for petroleum fuels, such as crude oil, gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, fuel oils and like petroleum products, whereby the toxic emissions produced on burning those materials are reduced.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,639, petroleum fuels are treated with a solid acid and a chromate compound, whereby sulfur and other residual impurities are removed, with the result that toxic emissions, such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, can be reduced. While the explanation as to how these toxic emissions are reduced is not completely clear, sizable reductions in carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions have been observed.
The present invention is an improvement on the emissions - reducing method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,639.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved treatment for petroleum fuels, such as crude oil, gasoline, jet fuel, fuel oils, and like petroleum products, whereby the toxic emissions produced on burning those materials are reduced.